Within Reach
by SereneCalamity
Summary: For a long time, he had actually thought it was Clint and Natasha. But then it turned out Clint had a family, and Natasha really was just his best friend. Romanoger. OneShot.


_I've definitely been more in love with Clintasha, but recently I've come around to the Romanoger side of things! Of course, Clint and Nat are still friends, because they're just adorable together. Haha._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Damnit._

Of course he had heard about the infamous Black Widow before he had even met her. Before he had even become a part of the Avengers Initiative or SHIELD, Nick Fury and Maria Hill would stop by and check up on him. They would talk about various things that were going on, keep him up to the date with the world. They never discussed anything to top secret, but he was very good at picking up on hushed conversations and little bits of information that he probably shouldn't have heard.

When he first met Natasha Romanov it was on the runway of the heli-carrier when he was speaking with Bruce Banner. She was attractive, and she was cocky—in fact, in a way, she kind of reminded him of Peggy Carter.

He was only thinking of her as a friend, he was focussing everything on Loki Odinson, but as time went by, and they worked together more closely, there was something a little more between them. Or at least, from his side. Because it was pretty damn clear that the only man she really trusted was Clint Barton. The two of them were never apart. He had originally noted their friendship back in the Battle of New York, because Natasha had never left his side as he was recovering from the brainwash. And then he had appreciated the way they worked together because when they were fighting on the streets of New York, they had moved perfectly in sync with each other and that was something that was invaluable. As he worked more and more with SHIELD, he was paired with others, and a lot of the time, Fury had paired him with Natasha. A lot of the time, that meant working with Clint as well.

Clint and Natasha had inside jokes.

Clint made Natasha smiled.

Clint was the only one who was allowed to touch Natasha.

Clint had brushed Natasha's hair when she broke her arm and dislocated her other wrist.

Pretty much _everyone_ assumed that the two of them were together—Tony Stark made multiple lewd jokes about them, and even Maria, who was usually pretty subdued when it came to their private lives, made a couple of comments. Neither of them answered, although sometimes Natasha would give them that long, deathly look that would make someone want to crawl up in a ball and die rather than meet her gaze.

The first time he actually did a full job with only her, if it could have been classed as a job, was when everything when everything with SHIELD was falling apart. He had been nervous about trusting her from the beginning, because to be honest, she was a spy before everything else, and he wasn't sure where her loyalties laid. But she had proved herself, helping him every step of the way.

She had even kissed him, and there had been some definite banter going on.

And she had helped to bring back his best friend, James 'Bucky' Barnes.

But then when he had seen her next, she had been with Clint...Of course. It was on an Avengers mission, rather than a SHIELD one, and they were in the middle of Spain. They were playing a loving couple, and they did it so well. It actually made him feel a little sick in the pit of his stomach to watch them. They were sitting at a little table, leaning in close to each other, and Clint brushed a stray strand of hair out of Natasha's hair, tucking it behind her ear. She lifted her hand and linked their fingers, and he said something to her and made her laugh.

Steve had to look away from the monitors at that point, which had gotten him a strange look from Doctor Bruce Banner.

And the time after that, she was with Clint, sparring with him in the Avengers tower.

Steve was trying to bury the way he was feeling, saying that it was stupid, and that it was a means to an end, and he should just focus everything he had on Bucky's rehabilitation.

But she wasn't with Clint.

She was _Aunty Nat_ to Clint's kids.

She seemed like best friends with Clint's wife—to the point where she was actually rubbing and talking to Laura Barton's pregnant stomach.

It was adorable and completely unexpected and Steve almost felt the need to break out in this giant grin. He quickly caught himself, given the severity of their situation and that they were literally on lock down given the witch with the red balls of destruction and screwed with their heads almost to the point of no return.

Everything between Clint and Natasha was exactly what it had looked like. And so when Clint had started panicking after he had caught the cradle and no one had eyes on their red headed assassin, Steve knew that it wasn't because his lover had gone missing. It was because his best friend and partner had gone missing. And when Clint determinedly buried himself in a bunker to look down every channel for her, Steve went down to see if there was anything that he could help him with because he knew all about loosing your best friend.

After they had gone back to their new Avengers base, and most people had parted to go their own ways, Steve and Natasha had stayed behind, along with a few of their new Avenger trainees.

And that was where they were now.

She was so close, but there was still something that was holding him back. She had been just a little out of reach; with her non-existent 'relationship' with Clint and her lack of trust and their differing work schedules. Now, they were living only a few metres apartment, they were both single, and it actually felt as though there was something of a friendship between them. Not that he wouldn't have said before that they weren't friends, but now there was something more. They ate breakfast and lunch together, sometimes dinner. They sparred together, and she started teaching him Russian. She even dragged him out dancing once, although he felt so out of place in the club that he mainly sat at the bar and watched her gyrate her gorgeous body in the middle of the dance floor.

"Yo, Cap!" Natasha called from where she was standing at the top of the steps. Steve came to a stop, from where he had been running around the quad, taking in a couple of deep breaths to bring his heart rate back down, even though it was barely above average. "Wanna take a girl out on the town?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him and gave him that half smirk that Steve loved.

"I'm pretty sure we learnt our lesson last time—I'm not really one to go out dancing and 'go out on the town'," Steve gave her a sheepish smile. Natasha rolled her eyes, jogging down the stairs until she was standing just in front of him.

"Well then how about a movie? And dinner? I'm going stir crazy—we haven't gotten out of here in _ages_ ," she groaned, her shoulders slumping dramatically.

"We went out on a mission yesterday!" Steve protested as he started walking toward where his jacket and bottle of water was resting on the ground. Natasha walked behind him, a step or so slower, and waited as he took a long drink and then slipped the jacket on. "But okay, I can do dinner and a movie."

"Yes!" Natasha let out a fist bump that made his grin widen. "I get to pick the movie, though."

"As if I have any idea what's out at the moment," Steve shook his head. "But I get to pick where we go for dinner."

"It's a date," Natasha grinned as she backed away. His eyebrows lifted at her words but she just gave her another half smile and spun around, jogging back up the stairs and into the building. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a shirt that clung to her torso, and Steve had to swallow hard not to leer after her, dropping his eyes to the ground.

* * *

Sam Wilson was supposed to be there to help, but really he was just sitting there, watching Steve fret and commenting.

"You like this girl," he stated. Steve didn't answer, but the slight blush in his cheeks gave Sam all the answers that he needed. Not like he really needed a response, he knew that there was something going on between them since the first time he had seen them together. "And this girl is single. And you're single," Sam continued, sitting on the edge of the bed as Steve stood in front of the full length mirror, holding a tie in each hand and trading them off to see which one looked best. "And now you're going on a date. I don't see the problem here."

"I didn't see there was a problem," Steve told him as he decided on neither tie. He threw them both on the chair beside the bed and stood back in front of the mirror, undoing the top button and running his fingers through his hair, trying to go for the tousled look but still tidy.

"No, and _that's_ the problem!" Sam cried out.

"There's a problem because I think that there's no problem?" It was almost adorable, just how confused Steve looked as he stared over at Sam. Sam just let out a short laugh and shook his head. He got up and clapped his hand down on Steve's shoulder, squeezing it sympathetically and letting out another laugh. "What? What is it that I'm missing here?" Steve asked.

"I think I'm just going to let you go, man," Sam said with a grin. "We all know that Natasha is a lot more clued in than you, so hopefully she takes the first step." Steve felt his whole body stiffen at the words and Sam took a step back, toward the door. "Remember, the first step is actually admitting that there's a problem." Steve waited until Sam had left the room and shut the door behind him before he let out a frustrated groan and slumped down onto the corner of his bed. He rubbed his hands over his face, pinching at the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts.

He wasn't _completely_ clueless, despite what Sam and pretty much everyone else thought.

At least, he wasn't clueless when it came to himself.

He liked Natasha.

Maybe he loved Natasha, he wasn't too sure.

What confused him, was the way that everything else worked.

Was how him and Natasha were supposed to work as anything more than partners.

Steve got himself together, straightening out his shirt, picking up a jacket from the back of his desk chair and heading down the hallway. Natasha's room was only about a two minute walk away, and he took in a deep breath while he was standing outside, prepping himself up to knocking. In the end, he didn't even need to knock, because the door swung open and Natasha was standing there with a wide smile on her face.

"I wasn't going to see if your shadow was going to stand there for another three minutes," she told him with a raise of her eyebrows. Steve wasn't even properly processing her words, because his eyes were drifting downward and drinking in the sight of her. She was wearing a simple, sleeveless black dress that had a high neckline that ended a few inches above her knees. The heels she was wearing were a good few inches, strapping up her ankles, but she was still shorter than him. The dark dress offset her red hair, which had grown a little bit longer over the past few months, and also brought out the green in her eyes. "Hey, pal," Natasha smirked and waved her hand at him. "Eyes are up here."

"Oh, right," Steve blinked a couple of times and fought to keep the red blush off his cheeks. "Sorry."

"That's no problem," her mouth quirked up in the corner. "You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve nodded and took a step back to give her room to come into the hall. Natasha stepped out next to him, pulling her door shut behind her and falling into step with him.

"So where are we going for dinner?" She asked as they reached the elevator and pressed the button to go down to the basement.

"Uh, it's not really fancy," he looked a little guilty as she looked him up and down, but she just shook her head and frowned.

"That's fine, Steve, it's just dinner," she reassured him. Steve pursed his lips but didn't say anything when they arrived down in the basement. There wasn't any question about who was driving; even though Natasha loved her bike when they were out in the field, she had a sleek, black 2014 Chevrolet Corvette that she drove at other times. It seemed a little more practical for tonight, given Steve was still driving around a motorcycle that he had picked up for just over seven hundred dollars and used when he needed to get around. As they neared her car, she stopped. "Cap!" He looked across at her, and reacted just in time to catch the keys that were flying through the air. He gave her a questioningly look, and she just shrugged in reply. "You get a scratch on my baby and I'll make sure I let Clint's girl loose with your shield and her finger paint."

"Right, yes," Steve almost bumbled over his words as he unlocked the door and slid inside. Then he instantly regretted getting inside and not going around to the passenger side and opening it for Natasha. But as the red headed assassin had gotten in next to him, he realized that if he had gone around there, she would probably have snatched the keys right off him and called it a night. He started the car and Natasha pulled the remote for the hanger door out of the centre console and pressed the button. Then they were pulling out of the garage and driving down the gravel toward the front gate. They slowed down for him to swipe his card and then they were off into the night.

"Brooklyn, huh?" Natasha commented after a couple of minutes driving. Steve glanced over at her and nervously tightened his fingers around the steering wheel.

"Is that a problem?" He asked.

"No," she shook her head as she leaned her head back against the headrest and turned her face to him. "I said it was fine." Steve's eyes flitted over to her, to the way her green eyes were locked on him, caressing his body, and it made everything about him feel all hot and tingly. He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders, thinking it was about time that he needed to distract himself.

"It's a place where I've been taking Bucky," Steve said. "It's where we used to go for milkshakes. It's not the same, of course, it looks all different now, it's a fast food joint now, but the building is the same. Some of it just feels the same, and the milkshakes that they do now are actually so much better," he let out a short laugh. "Being there with Bucky feels familiar."

"And is it helping him, do you think?" Natasha asked, her voice soft but earnest.

"He's remembering things," Steve nodded. "He remembers me, or at least, parts of me. Memories. There was a time when we were at school and this older kid was picking on me. Bucky remembers the bullies name. And when we went to this fish and chip place, he ordered a hot dog exactly the same as he always did; with everything on it, except for mustard," there was a small smile on his face and he looked over at Natasha, who was smiling along with him.

"That's great," she murmured. "That's so great." Steve nodded and blinked as he went back to watching the road.

"It is," he replied quietly as they reached the edges of Brooklyn and he slowed down the car. The restaurant they were going to was only a few minutes into this part of the city, and his eyes were scanning for a park. He found one and indicated, noticing that when he parallel parked, he was only a few centimetres in front of the car behind him. He cringed and looked over at Natasha, who just smirked as she swung open her door and one long, smooth leg swung out onto the footpath. Steve got out quickly, waiting until she was clear of the car before locking it. "This is it," he said, as she joined him around the other side of the car.

"It's cute," Natasha stated, and Steve looked at her quickly, trying to gauge her facial expression. But she didn't look put off, there was a small smile on her face as pointedly held out her hand to him. Steve hesitated for a second before taking her hand. He was planning on holding it normally until she slipped her fingers between his and looked both ways up and down the street before taking the lead.

Steve felt like that had already happened enough tonight.

 _He_ liked Natasha.

 _He_ wanted to go out with her.

 _He_ was scared, and needed to step up.

"Natasha," he said as they reached the side walk. "Natasha, wait—"

"What's wrong?" She stopped walking as he tugged on her hand and she lifted her perfectly plucked eyebrows at him. Steve released her hand and ran his fingers through his short hair, probably completely messing up the way he had styled it earlier. Natasha was watching him carefully, her arms folded over her chest, but there was something in the way that the corner of her mouth had tightened that showed she was nervous.

"What are we doing here?" He asked her, hoping that the insanely quick way his heart was now beating wasn't obvious.

"We're going out for dinner at a charming little place in Brooklyn," her pink lips quirked upward.

"On a date?" Steve confirmed.

"On a date," she nodded once, her red hair swishing back and forth.

"And you go on dates with people that you _like_ , right?" Steve was sounding like a complete and utter idiot, even to himself. He was starting to understand why Sam had given him a hopeless look this morning. Natasha's eyebrows were still raised and this time she gave a full smile, accompanied with a short laugh.

"I don't think _that_ has changed too much since your day," Natasha teased him lightly.

"Then that means that you like me," Steve said hesitantly. Natasha licked her lips, the smile dropping from her face and she tightened the fold of her arms.

"I think we need to change your name to Captain Obvious," she muttered.

"Ha ha," Steve rolled his eyes at her, but at this point, he was having a hard time keeping the smile off his face.

 _She_ liked _him_.

 _Natasha_ liked _him._

She was single, she was free, she liked him and she was within his reach.

Steve took the small step forward to cover the distance between them, his hands coming up to cup her face and tilt her heart shaped face up to his. Natasha stiffened for a moment, surprised at his initiative, and then she melted into him. He had always thought that her body was all taunt muscle. Even when he had seen her in the pretty dresses and gowns when they needed to go undercover, she was always poised and ready for a fight. He was finding out now, though, that he was all wrong.

She was soft and she was smooth and she was warm, and the way she was shuddering against him made him feel all kind of powerful.

This was absolutely nothing like the first kiss they had experienced when she had teased him afterward and he had been caught completely off guard. He was controlling this one, and he was holding her face firmly against his and his tongue was rolling over hers, and the big and scary Black Widow felt as though she was going to dissolve in a puddle at his feet. He liked that. God, and then she made this noise at the back of his throat, and he liked that even more.

"Do you want to skip dinner?" Steve asked when he pulled back, swallowing hard as he took in her glazed eyes and swollen lips.

"Oh, really?" Natasha asked with a smirk, although it wasn't quite her usual sassy smile because her whole body was still quivering and her eyes were partly closed. "That's so forward of you, prim and proper Steve."

"Is that a yes?" Steve tilted his head forward slightly.

"Fuck yeah it's a yes," Natasha breathed and Steve's eyes flickered slightly. Natasha shook her head and let out a short laugh. "You say 'language' and I will smack you upside the head." Steve laughed with her before rolling his eyes.

"Never going to live that one down, am I?" He murmured as his hands dropped from her face, one of them taking her hand and linking their fingers together. "Come home with me," he whispered and she licked her lips, nodding again, and letting her lead him back across the road, toward her car.

 _I hope you guys enjoyed!_

 _Let me know what you think :) x_


End file.
